Pak spying racket busted in Madhya Pradesh, 11 held

Eleven men, including a relative of a ruling BJP councillor, have been arrested by the Madhya Pradesh police’s anti-terror squad (ATS) for allegedly running an international call racket that helped Pakistan’s ISI to spy on India’s military operations.

Officials said they were allegedly operating parallel telephone exchanges using Chinese equipment and SIM-boxes.

All the 11 men have been booked under provisions of the Indian Telegraph Act, besides Section 122 and 123 of Indian Penal Code (IPC), which deal with collecting arms, information and other things for waging war against the country.

MP ATS inspector general Sanjeev Shami said five men were nabbed from Gwalior, three from Bhopal, two from Jabalpur and one from Satna. He, however, refused to speak about the political linkage of those taken into custody.

Madhya Pradesh Anti Terror Squad members display in Bhopal on Thursday an electronic appliance used by a gang allegedly involved in spying for Pakistan. (PTI)
Shami said that the man arrested from Satna and identified as Balram is allegedly the mastermind of the racket.

“Investigations revealed that Satna (MP) resident Balram was funding the activities of the duo held in Jammu. Balram, who was in constant touch with Pak-based handlers, used multiple bank accounts to fund the anti-national operations of the duo arrested last year in Jammu,” he said.

The two Inter-Services Intelligence operatives, Satwindar and Dadu, were arrested from RS Pura area of Jammu district in November 2016, said Shami. They were revealing sensitive information pertaining to defence installations and camps, besides other matters of strategic importance to handlers in Pakistan.

Balram and his aides operated several parallel telephone exchanges in various cities of MP, including Bhopal, Gwalior, Jabalpur and Satna. Money was allegedly transferred from Pakistan into the bank accounts of Balram via these exchanges. It was subsequently forwarded to the two ISI operatives in Jammu.

Shami said the SIM boxes, which house SIM cards, and other equipment were being used to run the exchanges that masked the identity of callers from Pakistan and other countries.

The calls by overseas handlers were converted into local calls using SIM cards obtained on fake ID proofs and also landline numbers. The calls were made via the internet and sent to SIM boxes which redirected the VoIP traffic onto mobile networks.

This subsequently enabled ISI spies to pose as senior army officers and call up military personnel in Jammu and Kashmir to extract details of strategic operations particularly in sensitive areas near the LoC, ATS sources confided.

“We’ve seized hundreds of SIM cards from the 11 men, who were running such parallel phone exchanges in different MP town. The role of employees of some telecom companies too is under the scanner and more arrests will be made in coming days,” said Shami.

He added the arrested men were not only aiding anti-national operations through these parallel exchanges but also caused enormous revenue loss to the central government and department of telecommunications via illegal conversion of international calls into local calls.

They were also using these call centres to dabble in other illegal activities like money laundering and online lottery fraud.

Shami said the SIM boxes, which house SIM cards, and other equipment were being used to run the exchanges that masked the identity of callers from Pakistan and other countries.

The calls by overseas handlers were converted into local calls using SIM cards obtained on fake ID proofs and also landline numbers. The calls were made via the internet and sent to SIM boxes which redirected the VoIP traffic onto mobile networks.

This subsequently enabled ISI spies to pose as senior army officers and call up military personnel in Jammu and Kashmir to extract details of strategic operations particularly in sensitive areas near the LoC, ATS sources confided.

“We’ve seized hundreds of SIM cards from the 11 men, who were running such parallel phone exchanges in different MP town. The role of employees of some telecom companies too is under the scanner and more arrests will be made in coming days,” said Shami.

He added the arrested men were not only aiding anti-national operations through these parallel exchanges but also caused enormous revenue loss to the central government and department of telecommunications via illegal conversion of international calls into local calls.

They were also using these call centres to dabble in other illegal activities like money laundering and online lottery fraud.

Eleven men, including a relative of a ruling BJP councillor, have been arrested by the Madhya Pradesh police’s anti-terror squad (ATS) for allegedly running an international call racket that helped Pakistan’s ISI to spy on India’s military operations.

Officials said they were allegedly operating parallel telephone exchanges using Chinese equipment and SIM-boxes.

All the 11 men have been booked under provisions of the Indian Telegraph Act, besides Section 122 and 123 of Indian Penal Code (IPC), which deal with collecting arms, information and other things for waging war against the country.

MP ATS inspector general Sanjeev Shami said five men were nabbed from Gwalior, three from Bhopal, two from Jabalpur and one from Satna. He, however, refused to speak about the political linkage of those taken into custody.

Madhya Pradesh Anti Terror Squad members display in Bhopal on Thursday an electronic appliance used by a gang allegedly involved in spying for Pakistan. (PTI)
Shami said that the man arrested from Satna and identified as Balram is allegedly the mastermind of the racket.

“Investigations revealed that Satna (MP) resident Balram was funding the activities of the duo held in Jammu. Balram, who was in constant touch with Pak-based handlers, used multiple bank accounts to fund the anti-national operations of the duo arrested last year in Jammu,” he said.

The two Inter-Services Intelligence operatives, Satwindar and Dadu, were arrested from RS Pura area of Jammu district in November 2016, said Shami. They were revealing sensitive information pertaining to defence installations and camps, besides other matters of strategic importance to handlers in Pakistan.

Balram and his aides operated several parallel telephone exchanges in various cities of MP, including Bhopal, Gwalior, Jabalpur and Satna. Money was allegedly transferred from Pakistan into the bank accounts of Balram via these exchanges. It was subsequently forwarded to the two ISI operatives in Jammu.

Shami said the SIM boxes, which house SIM cards, and other equipment were being used to run the exchanges that masked the identity of callers from Pakistan and other countries.

The calls by overseas handlers were converted into local calls using SIM cards obtained on fake ID proofs and also landline numbers. The calls were made via the internet and sent to SIM boxes which redirected the VoIP traffic onto mobile networks.

This subsequently enabled ISI spies to pose as senior army officers and call up military personnel in Jammu and Kashmir to extract details of strategic operations particularly in sensitive areas near the LoC, ATS sources confided.

“We’ve seized hundreds of SIM cards from the 11 men, who were running such parallel phone exchanges in different MP town. The role of employees of some telecom companies too is under the scanner and more arrests will be made in coming days,” said Shami.

He added the arrested men were not only aiding anti-national operations through these parallel exchanges but also caused enormous revenue loss to the central government and department of telecommunications via illegal conversion of international calls into local calls.

They were also using these call centres to dabble in other illegal activities like money laundering and online lottery fraud.

Shami said the SIM boxes, which house SIM cards, and other equipment were being used to run the exchanges that masked the identity of callers from Pakistan and other countries.

The calls by overseas handlers were converted into local calls using SIM cards obtained on fake ID proofs and also landline numbers. The calls were made via the internet and sent to SIM boxes which redirected the VoIP traffic onto mobile networks.

This subsequently enabled ISI spies to pose as senior army officers and call up military personnel in Jammu and Kashmir to extract details of strategic operations particularly in sensitive areas near the LoC, ATS sources confided.

“We’ve seized hundreds of SIM cards from the 11 men, who were running such parallel phone exchanges in different MP town. The role of employees of some telecom companies too is under the scanner and more arrests will be made in coming days,” said Shami.

He added the arrested men were not only aiding anti-national operations through these parallel exchanges but also caused enormous revenue loss to the central government and department of telecommunications via illegal conversion of international calls into local calls.

They were also using these call centres to dabble in other illegal activities like money laundering and online lottery fraud.

Well feels that they thought its easy money, the master mind would have given them equipment and then they thought, if everything is paid, they would just make service charges by doing nothing,
It might seem innocent, but seems it is not, If a common guy is say given such equipment, and paid for, and told that its only to route expensive calls from relatives in UK USA and other foreign countries to relatives at cheap price to avoid expensive Telephony charges in the respective foreign countries, that might explain (in a way) that the people involved might not really be anti national. But maybe the real intention of the masterminds (which the ATS has unearthed) was more sinister. Also does army personnel talk over unsecured lines about sensitive info like troop movements etc? Whats wrong wtih the Army folks.

Eleven men, including a relative of a ruling BJP councillor, have been arrested by the Madhya Pradesh police’s anti-terror squad (ATS) for allegedly running an international call racket that helped Pakistan’s ISI to spy on India’s military operations.

Officials said they were allegedly operating parallel telephone exchanges using Chinese equipment and SIM-boxes.

All the 11 men have been booked under provisions of the Indian Telegraph Act, besides Section 122 and 123 of Indian Penal Code (IPC), which deal with collecting arms, information and other things for waging war against the country.

MP ATS inspector general Sanjeev Shami said five men were nabbed from Gwalior, three from Bhopal, two from Jabalpur and one from Satna. He, however, refused to speak about the political linkage of those taken into custody.

Madhya Pradesh Anti Terror Squad members display in Bhopal on Thursday an electronic appliance used by a gang allegedly involved in spying for Pakistan. (PTI)
Shami said that the man arrested from Satna and identified as Balram is allegedly the mastermind of the racket.

“Investigations revealed that Satna (MP) resident Balram was funding the activities of the duo held in Jammu. Balram, who was in constant touch with Pak-based handlers, used multiple bank accounts to fund the anti-national operations of the duo arrested last year in Jammu,” he said.

The two Inter-Services Intelligence operatives, Satwindar and Dadu, were arrested from RS Pura area of Jammu district in November 2016, said Shami. They were revealing sensitive information pertaining to defence installations and camps, besides other matters of strategic importance to handlers in Pakistan.

Balram and his aides operated several parallel telephone exchanges in various cities of MP, including Bhopal, Gwalior, Jabalpur and Satna. Money was allegedly transferred from Pakistan into the bank accounts of Balram via these exchanges. It was subsequently forwarded to the two ISI operatives in Jammu.

Shami said the SIM boxes, which house SIM cards, and other equipment were being used to run the exchanges that masked the identity of callers from Pakistan and other countries.

The calls by overseas handlers were converted into local calls using SIM cards obtained on fake ID proofs and also landline numbers. The calls were made via the internet and sent to SIM boxes which redirected the VoIP traffic onto mobile networks.

This subsequently enabled ISI spies to pose as senior army officers and call up military personnel in Jammu and Kashmir to extract details of strategic operations particularly in sensitive areas near the LoC, ATS sources confided.

“We’ve seized hundreds of SIM cards from the 11 men, who were running such parallel phone exchanges in different MP town. The role of employees of some telecom companies too is under the scanner and more arrests will be made in coming days,” said Shami.

He added the arrested men were not only aiding anti-national operations through these parallel exchanges but also caused enormous revenue loss to the central government and department of telecommunications via illegal conversion of international calls into local calls.

They were also using these call centres to dabble in other illegal activities like money laundering and online lottery fraud.

Shami said the SIM boxes, which house SIM cards, and other equipment were being used to run the exchanges that masked the identity of callers from Pakistan and other countries.

The calls by overseas handlers were converted into local calls using SIM cards obtained on fake ID proofs and also landline numbers. The calls were made via the internet and sent to SIM boxes which redirected the VoIP traffic onto mobile networks.

This subsequently enabled ISI spies to pose as senior army officers and call up military personnel in Jammu and Kashmir to extract details of strategic operations particularly in sensitive areas near the LoC, ATS sources confided.

“We’ve seized hundreds of SIM cards from the 11 men, who were running such parallel phone exchanges in different MP town. The role of employees of some telecom companies too is under the scanner and more arrests will be made in coming days,” said Shami.

He added the arrested men were not only aiding anti-national operations through these parallel exchanges but also caused enormous revenue loss to the central government and department of telecommunications via illegal conversion of international calls into local calls.

They were also using these call centres to dabble in other illegal activities like money laundering and online lottery fraud.

Security agencies arrested on Tuesday an alleged Lashkar-e-Taiba operative and claimed that he was carrying out reconnaissance of vital installations such as army camps and power projects, officials said.

They said that the accused, identified as Abdul Naeem Sheikh, a resident of Aurangabad in Maharashtra, was arrested from Lucknow.

Sheikh was wanted in connection with a terror case since 2014 and had been on the run.

The case has been handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for further probe, the officials said.

It is alleged that Sheikh had visited Kashmir where he had carried out a recce mission involving some vital installations, including Army camps and power projects.

The officials claimed that he had also visited some places in Himachal Pradesh, especially Kasol, which is being frequented by Israeli nationals.

The security agencies have claimed that Sheikh had been roped in for recce mission similar to that undertaken by David Headley, a Pakistan-American, who is at present serving a prison sentence of 35 years at a US jail for his involvement in terror activities and the 26/11 Mumbai attacks of 2008.

Well feels that they thought its easy money, the master mind would have given them equipment and then they thought, if everything is paid, they would just make service charges by doing nothing,
It might seem innocent, but seems it is not, If a common guy is say given such equipment, and paid for, and told that its only to route expensive calls from relatives in UK USA and other foreign countries to relatives at cheap price to avoid expensive Telephony charges in the respective foreign countries, that might explain (in a way) that the people involved might not really be anti national. But maybe the real intention of the masterminds (which the ATS has unearthed) was more sinister. Also does army personnel talk over unsecured lines about sensitive info like troop movements etc? Whats wrong wtih the Army folks.

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Doing anything illegal knowingly is anti national and anti social. There are no 2 ways about it.